Gas powered turbines, such as those utilized in turbine engines for commercial aircraft, include a compressor section, a combustor section, and a turbine section. The compressor, combustor and turbine sections operate in conjunction with each other to generate rotation of a shaft that runs through each of the sections. In the case of some aircraft engines, the shaft drives a fan. In alternate example gas powered turbines, such as land based turbines, the rotation of the shaft is utilized to generate electrical power.
Each of the compressor section and the turbine section includes multiple rotors arranged sequentially along a fluid flowpath. Each rotor includes a rotor bore protruding radially inward toward the shaft. Some engines include a hot air flow aft of the rotors, relative to fluid flow through the gas powered turbine. Absent a mechanical separation, hot air from the hot air flow contacts the rotor bores and significantly increases the heat to which the rotor bores are exposed.
In some examples, the rotor bores are particularly heat sensitive, and a rotor basket is disposed between the rotor bores and the shaft. Existing bore baskets are constructed of a single metal cylinder disposed about the shaft. The rotor basket defines a hot air passageway between the rotor basket and the shaft, and the air from the hot air flow is passed to a return opening in the shaft through the passageway. The basket operates as a heat shield and a flow guide, providing separation between the hot air flow and sensitive rotor bores, and shielding the sensitive rotor bores from the heat of the hot air flow.